FEBRUARY 12TH, 2010
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Alex Mitchell, of the excellent blog and forthcoming book Theediblegardener.co.uk recently put together this series of interview questions for me about farming on a rooftop. It was such fun to answer, I’m posting it here!
1. How did you get into urban rooftop farming?
I started working with farmers as part of my undergraduate work in chocolate agriculture, in Ghana, West Africa. When I graduated college, I began working with the New York Botanical Gardens, and then later in the season apprenticed upstate with a farmer who sold for the largest NYC farmers’ market, in Union Square. What struck me about the way New Yorkers interact with farms and farming is that they LOVE to talk about food, perhaps even more than eat it! I myself love farming; I love urban farming because it’s a wonderful nexus to engage people over something they have to do every day–eat–with issues I care deeply about, such as soil ecology, urban green spaces, city flora and fauna, and self-sufficiency. I was drawn into rooftop agriculture as an example of possibility for localizing food for urbanites. Green roofing a rooftop is also an incredible boon for New York, as storm water runoff is a terrible problem for our overtaxed sewage system. The combination of the two appealed to me as someone always looking for sustainable agricultural innovations.
2. What is the attraction for you of planting up roofs in New York?
Ditto, yeah?
3. How have the local community reacted? Do they get to eat the food?
This past year, produce from the rooftop fed the community in two ways: through sales to area chefs, and through I market I opened on Sundays, straight out of the building. This year, I’m expanding to include a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program, which I’m looking forward to as a a direct way to track how many people the project can potentially feed–data that many urban growers are always interested in figuring out. When you talk about self-sufficiency in cities, the CSA model is a wonderful way both to practically track that, and build an invested group of people into the farming model.
4. Do you think we’re at the start of a revolution in urban food production around the world and why is it that the US seems to be so ahead of the curve here, with younger, dynamic people so prominent?
Urban food production is revolutionary, but not unprecedented. There are wonderful photographs of gardens in Union Square from the turn of the century, community gardens that date back decades, and of course, the history of New York City’s land as agricultural. As for younger people farming–well, I should hope so. The average age of the American farmer is 57 years old, and they’re mostly men. That’s not a good demographic if we want to stop the slow downhill slide of the American food system. I’m happy to throw in the labor (and engage in the “hipness” factor) because I learned farming by training under older, more knowledgeable land stewards. It’s good to not go totally nuts reinventing the wheel, particularly in a practice (agriculture) with a 2,000 year history. As for urban agriculture: it’s incredible to connect city people to their food, but let’s face it, real estate in New York is super tight. I support revamping the pre-existing (fire escapes, rooftops, abandoned lots), improving future models (let every new condo have a green roof!). In the long term, what I’d love to see people work on next is the American lawn. Not to mention golf courses and parking lots.
5. What do you think about the idea of vertical farms, giant towerblocks growing food hydroponically and feeding cities?
We have so much beautiful farmland in our watershed, land that is tragically being outpriced or parceled out into developments. Food production isn’t just about products, it’s part of an ecosystem and a watershed connecting city to farms. If we are going to have conversations about building towers for producing basil, we need to have a parallel, if not more imperative, dialogue about every organic farm we lose when a golf course is built, a farmer can’t afford his or her taxes, or housing gets developed as a vacation retreat for New Yorkers trying to take an escape-vacation from the city they built. I see much of the value of urban agriculture as reminding consumers where their food comes from: to see it growing is to understand what we support in shopping locally.
6. Could you give 5 tips for people starting out growing food on balconies and roofs?
If you’d like to grow food on your rooftop or balcony, I would begin by asking yourself what you like to eat. It’s likely you’ll take better care of it if you’re looking forward to the results! Then, honestly assess three things: how much sunlight your “garden” gets, how much weight that area can hold, and (really) how much time you’ll spend. There are crops out there for everyone, but you have to start with that. Make sure you have good water access. And it’s always a good idea to have a mentor in mind–the lady down the block who grows geraniums, an online discussion forum you like, or a friend who will trade tomato growing lessons for a skill you have. A common mistake most first time green thumbs make is watering: we overwater, assuming that’s the cure-all for vegetables. Your soil should feel slightly crumblier than the inside of a freshly cooked brownie: that kind of moisture, and watering with a good soak about every two days, usually does the trick. Roofs are often dry and hot, so be a good parent and check on your plants regularly!
7. I see that you grow your crops in Eagle Street Farm direct into soil on the warehouse roof… What are the advantages of growing like this and how can we adapt this if we just have a domestic roof that couldn’t take the weight of so much soil?
The soil on Eagle Street Rooftop Farm is 4-6″ deep, which is quite shallow for vegetables. The weight limit for the roof limited the depth to 6″ all the way across. If your engineer gives you limits to what your roof can support, you can either build a stronger roof, or go within those limits with your plant choices. For example, shallow rooted annuals like spinach and radishes grow great, with applications of compost feeding them along.
8. Any tips on reusing water?
I reuse as much water as possible. If I water the rooftop crops, I always do it with drip lines or by hand, as an overhead sprayer would lose too much to wind. When I wash my produce, I do so over a bin that I then reuse in handwatering seedlings. It’s simple steps like that, combined with a larger rainwater collection system (in the works for 2010! Building permits are a tough one to tackle), that make a rooftop system work for veggies. The bottom line is, a green roof is supposed to remediate rainwater and stormwater runoff damage, so I don’t want to add too much extra water to the ecosystem I’m creating.
9. 3 top crops for growing up high?
Tomatoes, peppers and basil did extremely well. They love full sun, and dealt marvelously with the heat. I’ve had terrible luck with squash (both summer and winter).
10. What’s the best thing about growing food on a city rooftop?
The best aspect of rooftop growing, practically speaking, is knowing you’re making one more building that much greener: as a green roof, first and foremost; as a site for pollinators and city fauna, and finally, as a conversation-creating food source. That alone is invaluable. Americans should question their food system, and if putting food on a rooftop revolutionizes the way we think about our health, the effect agriculture has on our ecosystem, and the where our food comes from, then I’m happy to grow it up against the skyline.